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Band of the Week: Exitmusic

“We did this weird thing and spent a year recording before we ever played live,” explains the soft-spoken Aleksa Palladino, who, along with husband Devon Church, is one half of New York dream-pop duo Exitmusic. “Basically it was because I had stage fright,” she jokes, “so I kept trying to convince Devon we didn’t actually need to play any shows.”

This is a surprising revelation, not just because Palladino, who will see the release of Exitmusic’s first EP, From Silence, next month, has been an accomplished actress since the age of 14—appearing in a slew of indie titles as well as HBO’s critically acclaimed drama Boardwalk Empire (which returns for its second season on Sunday)—but also because From Silence doesn’t feel particularly introverted. Yes, their most recent single, “The Hours,” might have a slight Sigur Rós–style shimmer (mainly thanks to Palladino’s hushed, brooding voice), but the driving, almost electro-fused baselines on tracks like “The Sea” and “The Modern Age” mean the EP still delivers a noticeable kick, which echoes the likes of Björk and Portishead at their most raucous.

The couple credits this to the fact they moved from L.A. to New York two-and-a-half years ago, right around the time they began working on From Silence.

“We no longer had that dreamy haze that L.A. puts on everything,” Palladino explains.

“I feel like there is definitely a lot more urgency to our sound now,” Devon continues. “Whenever a band like us moves to New York, the BPM is always going to get a little higher.”